Well, dear readers, I am back quite late from attending an opening night, going to the after party for a bit, and then having a light-night snack at Du-Par’s (couldn’t get into Jerry’s – a huge line). In fact, that was the second place I couldn’t get into. I arrived at the Eclectic Café at six. There were three tables at which diners sat and about forty tables sitting empty. The hostess asked if I had reservations and I told her that I’ve been coming there for pre-show dinner at six since the day they opened and have never had reservations. She told me they were completely booked. She suggested we sit at the bar. I suggested that I wouldn’t be back because if I can’t get into a restaurant at six, I don’t need to frequent that restaurant, especially when my eyeballs are taking in over forty empty tables. I bid them a fond and final farewell and took myself across the street to the Pitfire Grill and had some very good mac and cheese. Then it was over to the theater. I saw my pal Lauren Rubin, who is one of two understudies for the show, and I saw Alet as she was going backstage. I said hey to producer David Elzer and book and lyrics writer David Goldsmith and his ever-lovin’ Karen. The house was basically all invited, so our names were on seats, which made it all very easy. I saw only a handful of folks I knew, but I did see someone who I’ll be calling today to see if she can complete our Gardenia cast – she’s an old hand at Menken and she’d be excellent. Then it was show time, show being Having It All, a new musical with a cast of five women. While this sort of thing is not my favorite kind of show, David’s lyrics were excellent, the music was fun, and the cast was powerhouse. I have no idea if audiences take to this sort of show these days (it reminded me very much of Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ’ Inside Out, soon to be available on Kritzerland), but you couldn’t ask for five better gals. Alet is, of course, a wonder and she’s her customary great self and clearly an audience favorite. Kim Huber is terrific as is Shannon Warne, Lindsey Alley, and my pal Jennifer Leigh Warren, who is fighting a cold and still sounded incredible.
After, it was back to the Pitfire Grill for the after party. I chatted with Kim and Alet and Jennifer and then left. I had the late-night snack at Du-Par’s and the pancakes were much better than last time, so that’s good.
Prior to all that, I did some bill paying, I picked up an important envelope, did some banking and other errands and whatnot and continued trying to complete the song choices for the Gardenia show (this one is surprisingly hard – I still need four more songs). And then The Singer did a rehearsal. It ran very smoothly (at this point it’s a little short, but I think once we get the rhythm of it right and we actually have a pianist rather than a CD to work with, it will be fine, time-wise) – still things to finesse, and I flipped the order of two songs, which worked very well.
And that was basically my day and my night and also my night and my day. Speaking of night and day, this is the night when we must spring forward – yes, it gets earlier and earlier when we’re springing forward, so don’t forget to set your clocks an hour ahead or you will be behind the curve and more importantly the curve will be behind you. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get my beauty sleep as I have a lot to do today.
Today, I have a lot to do, most of which deals with the Gardenia show. I’ll try to lock down our last two cast members, and pick the remaining songs, then I’ll go Xerox everything and make CDRs, which will require loading some music into iTunes. At some point I’ll eat (I’m thinking tuna pasta salad, actually), and at some point I’ll watch a motion picture.
Tomorrow is a very busy day – a ton of shipping to do, and then a rehearsal (John Boswell joins us from now on). The rest of the week is similar, with rehearsals, work sessions, meals, and meetings, not necessarily in that order.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog (I forgot to mention that I did one yesterday – first time in four months), I must lock down the two remaining cast members, I must finish choosing songs, and I must Xerox music. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and whilst we all set our clocks forward one hour.